Man, seen some cats with amazing live shows...Swollen Members, Kwe, Jean Grae, Pharoahe and his whole band were incredible. Common - best live show I have ever seen, full stop. Meth and Red, f***ing bananas. De La Soul, Blak Twang.
Thing is, cats like Tumi, Zubz etc are just as good. And yeah, the things we've mentioned like crowd interaction, mic placement, TIGHTNESS, stage presence...they all work to make a show brilliant.